United States of America basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia and is now in US custody, President Joe Biden said today.
“She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home,” Biden said in a tweet.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone with Griner from the Oval Office, a US official said, adding that the call included Griner’s wife, Cherelle.
Biden is due to make more remarks shortly, the White House said.
The Russian foreign ministry said it traded Women’s National Basketball Association star Griner for Russian citizen Viktor Bout, a former arms dealer.
Griner was detained in Russia in February after customs agents discovered vape canisters consisting of cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
The 32-year-old, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, was later sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs after pleading guilty but insisting she had made an “honest mistake” and not intended to break the law.
Bout, nicknamed “the merchant of death”, was one of the world’s most wanted men prior to his arrest as a notorious arms dealer who sold weapons to rogue states, rebel groups and murderous warlords in Africa, Asia and South America.
“On December 8, 2022, the procedure for the exchange of Russian citizen Viktor Bout for U.S. citizen Brittney Griner, who were serving their sentences in correctional institutions of the United States of America and the Russian Federation, respectively, was successfully completed at Abu Dhabi Airport,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.
“Washington categorically refused to engage in dialogue on the inclusion of the Russian in the exchange scheme,” the foreign ministry added. “Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continued to actively work to rescue our compatriot.
“The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.”
Reuters
